Alone I Break
by jennifer5
Summary: A Roswell/Smallville Crossover. Tess gives Alex an ultimatum...leave Roswell or die. Forced to leave he ends up in Smallville with no recollection of his life in Roswell. Through painful flashbacks, he must remember what he lost in order to stay alive.
1. The Prologue

**Title:** Alone I Break   
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Author:** Jennifer (Oompa Loompa666)   
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Email:** flora@glowing-stars.com   
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Disclaimer:** Roswell belongs to Metz, Katims, and 20th Century and their associates, and Smallville belongs to WB and their associates. (I'm sorry, I don't remember the originator of Superman, but him and his guys.) But I mean no harm, it's a fic, lighten up. The title stems from a Korn song. (From the "Untouchables" album) And as you read further, this has no relation to _John Doe_, even though it may seem so at first.   
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Category:** Roswell/Smallville Crossover   
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Summary:** Tess gives Alex an ultimatum...leave Roswell or die. (Somewhere before "Cry Your Name") Forced to leave he ends up in Smallville with no recollection of his life in Roswell. Through painful flashbacks, he must remember what he lost in order to stay alive. Though everyone in Roswell thinks Alex is dead, Liz is on a quest to discover the truth.   
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Author's Note:** OK, this is based before CYN and what you need to know is that Liz is still the detective into finding the reason behind his "death." In the Smallville verse, it's going to be general BUT Pete does know about Clark's abilities, just in case it's needed in the plotline. And it will be conventional couples for Roswell, although it may not seem so. Remember the Max and Liz from the near end second season, well they may act that way towards each other at first, but it will have a happy ending for Dreamers, Stargazers, and Candies. The Smallville verse will be secondary characters. I always thought Alex was the most under used character, so this is centered around him, though it will be about Liz's quest to uncover the truth.   
  
I hope you guys like it.   
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And please leave feedback.**   
  
  
  
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Prologue**   
  
"Alex, please, I don't want to do this, " Tess Harding pleadingly said to him. Her tear stricken face did not change his mind.   
  
"Tess, you invaded my head, I trusted you, we all did," he said with anger. He couldn't believe what he had discovered. He trusted her, she became his friend, and through everything she used him. She raped him of his mind. He could feel the anger rising as his face grew redder.   
  
"You got me to translate this silly thing, why can't you tell anyone about it? " he said, waving around a stack of paper.   
  
"Alex, please, don't make me," she pleaded once more. She really didn't want to go to the last resort. Really she didn't. But if she had to, to protect herself and Max, then fine she would do it. She tried to get used to her human side. Max would like that side, but after everything Nasedo taught her, she knew she would do anything to protect the Royal 4, even if that meant killing Alex.   
  
"What are you going to do? I'm weak to begin with," he said, he knew of her abilities, her mind warping abilities, he wanted to stand strong, he wanted to defend himself, but he was powerless, after being mind warped for so long, all he wanted to do was sleep. Have a peaceful weekend, instead of doing her job.   
  
"But I can't risk it, I'm sorry Alex," Tess said grasping the glass coca cola bottle she had tuck underneath her sweater on her lap. Another idea dawned on her. Why would she have to take a life and make all of her relationships that she has worked so hard for suffer? She closed her eyes and concentrated....   
  
Alex's eyes widen when she began, he knew what she was doing. He had seen it all too many times. He ran to his car, skipping over the rocks he passed. No wonder she had asked him to meet in the desert. Her intentions where there all along and he was blinded. He didn't think she was capable of it.   
  
He fumbled around with his keys, looking up to see Tess facing him. Her eyes seared with fury, her arms stretched to the sides of her. She resembled a fiery phoenix screeching its deadly call.   
  
Then the world went black.   
  
~   
Alex awoke to the sound of a crying baby. He rubbed his eyes. His vision returned to a near 20/20. He was in a chair, a sticky chair. He immediately looked to his right and faced the reflection of himself. He slowly turned around and faced a woman struggling with a baby. He feared the worst. He tried to think of where he was, he was about to ask the woman where the destination of the bus was, but found something poking from his side of the chair. He lifted what was an envelope and opened the flap and he found a ticket stub. He was going to Smallville, Kansas.   
  
He was hit with a wave of nausea. He had no idea how he wound up on the bus, no less why he was going to Kansas. He struggled to remember, but he couldn't. Every time he tried to search for a memory, he was struck with a pulsating vibration in his head. He lowered his head onto his hands and began to cry. The crying baby next to him stopped and the woman looked at Alex, and in a maternal show of affection, began to rub Alex's back.   
  
He stopped weeping, fearing his pride had been tarnished, and glanced at the woman, "Why did you to that? I don't know you...I think."   
  
"Because at the bus stop you were the only one who was willing to help me with all my luggage," she said, shifting the baby over to the other shoulder.   
  
"I'm sorry, but where was that stop?" he asked. He wrinkled his brow in confusion. Nothing was coming to him. He just felt a void.   
  
"Oh, it's OK, it happens to everyone, you were connecting at Trinidad, Colorado," she said smiling at him.   
  
"Thank you, I'm feeling a little..."   
  
" ... tired... me too. See you in Denver."   
  
"Denver, right." Colorado? He didn't understand any of it. He felt empty. He had a bag with him. He opened it up and only found clothes. He found a pamphlet about Smallville and nothing else. He took out a shirt and bunched it up and used it as a pillow. He laid his head down, closed his eyes, and prayed for a better tomorrow.   
  
TBC


	2. The First

**Part 1**  
  
Liz Parker, Maria Deluca, and Isabel Evans were all centered around the television. Earlier they were arguing on which movie to see. Maria wanted to see the 1970s movie 'Hair' and Isabel wanted to see anything without blood. Liz, the wise one, was neutral.   
  
When all was finally quiet, the channel was interrupted by a news bulletin:  
  
_Channel 5 is reporting live from the outskirts of Roswell. Police have discovered a car that apparently has exploded. No word on how this occurred, but we can tell you ashes were found. The details are still sketchy but we will inform on the latest, this is Alice Hadiatmodjo reporting...._  
  
"Wow, some accident," Maria said, turning off the television.  
  
"Yeah..." Liz said silently, somewhere inside she knew something was wrong. It didn't feel right.  
  
"Hey, why'd you do that? The movie was getting good," Isabel said, throwing popcorn at the perky one, as the movie was continuing.  
  
It had been the first time in a long time since the three of the them got together. They never really hung out, except for the occasional dinner at the Crashdown, but Liz and Max weren't exactly on speaking terms. Whenever a rare dinner date came up, everyone became silent as the two would walk in separately. They knew a silent war was brewing between the two. They just seemed to grow part and go their separate ways, though Maria and Michael had been increasing their relationship.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Maria said, getting up to go to the kitchen to restock on supplies.  
  
"Maria, is it ok, if I call Alex?" Isabel asked. They had went to the Prom together and she thoroughly enjoyed herself. It had been the first time she was able to go out on a date with him. With Grant and the whole Las Vegas fiasco, she was really able to enjoy herself with the one person she felt like she could spend the rest of her life with.  
  
Maria waved her off and put some red Sour Straws in her mouth.  
  
While listening to the phone ring, Isabel pictured what Alex was doing. Probably playing his guitar or reading the latest computer magazine. She wasn't thinking he was a dork, well maybe, her dork. She wanted to make sure their plans for that night were still a go.  
  
She hung up the phone, discouraged, "That's strange, no one picked up."  
  
"Oh don't worry Isabel, he's probably getting ready, you know perking those pecks," Maria said gigglingly.  
  
She was met by a poke in the side, "You know Alex wouldn't like that," Liz said.  
  
"And why wouldn't he?" Isabel asked curiously.  
  
"Oh because you know how our Alex boy is..." Maria said turning on the radio.  
  
"Riiight," she said laughing, "Hey Liz, did you ever think about doing something different with your hair?"  
  
"No," she said, self consciously touching her hair, "Not really. I kinda..."  
  
"Shh- there's something about the accident," Maria said. She motioned everyone to hurry to the radio to hear the announcement more clearer.  
  
_More about that accident outside of Roswell. Boy, it seems that this one is a big one. Maybe the worst accident around. More confirmed information though, there were some identification cards found on the scene. Some of them were burned in the blaze and there is an analysis going on as we speak about the ashes the police found. They fear that it may be of a person. The blaze was so ferocious that left only pieces of the car. The police are asking if you have any information on any missing persons, to please call your local station. More information will be provided as it develops. Continue to listen to KROZ for more on this on going case._  
  
"Something isn't right about this," Liz said. She had this feeling before, she had it before Prom. What if? No, it wasn't possible. He was home getting ready for his date with Isabel. He had no reason to go out on the road. No less be outside of Roswell.  
  
"Liz, is everything ok? You seem kinda pale," Maria asked, concerned.  
  
"Yeah, fine, it's just, it's not what I think," she said, hopefully her thoughts weren't true.  
  
"Liz, what do you think it is? Is it about the accident?" Isabel asked.  
  
"Yeah, I think so," she said, looking at both the girls.  
  
"I think... I think..." she stumbled..."I think it's Alex."  
  
~  
Alex opened his eyes to find sun rays shining upon him. He smiled at the warmth.   
  
He sighed, "It was all a dream, I knew it was."  
  
He was hit with a certain pang of reality. He realized where he was. He was still on the bus. He felt it screech into a stop.  
  
"Welcome to Denver," he heard over the PA.  
  
"We're here," the woman next to him said, "I guess this is my stop, I guess I'll see you around."  
  
She stepped off the bus before he was able to say anything. He grabbed his bag and something told him to look up, and when he did he saw a bag that matched the one he was holding in his hand. He grabbed the bag and stepped off the bus.   
  
He went off to the side, stretched a little. He patted his pockets and pulled out some money, "At least I'm not broke," he kidded.  
He looked some more until the lint came out of his jean pockets, no id or credit cards.  
  
He sighed and went to the closest newsstand. He bought a cup of coffee and an apple turn over. He wondered how he knew how many sugars he would want and how he liked apple turn overs. Everything was new to him. Everything that was him. He knew about the American Revolution, he knew about the latest Macintosh computer, but when it came to him, he knew nothing. He heard a bus honk and almost choked on the apple turn over when he realized the bus to Smallville was pulling out. He raced over to it, he wasn't sure if it was the right decision. But if he could get answers there then that would be better than staying where he was. He hoped that whatever lied ahead, it would be for the better because nothing could be worse than this.  
  
Too bad the bus to Denver pulled in 5 minutes later than it was supposed to. If it haven't he would have had time to notice the newspapers that aligned the floor in the newsstand. If he would have looked he would have noticed the headline, "Teenage Boy Missing After Explosion."  
  
The ride to Smallville was long. Extremely long. Not only did Alex have time to count every dot on the seat in front of him, but he made a list of everything he knew. For one he was a boy, a 17 year old boy. Liked apple turn overs, liked coffee with 3 sugar packets. He was on a connecting bus ride. He woke up when he was going to Trinidad, Colorado. He thought about getting off the bus and going back, retrace his steps, but it would be too much for him to do.   
  
He looked through the pamphlet about Smallville, Kansas. Your usual run of the mill town. It used to be the Cream Corn Capital of the World, but after 1989 it's now known for the meteor shower. It said that now there are walking tours around the local forest to find pieces of the meteor rocks. The shower was so huge that it wiped out some of the town, and pieces of the crash are found everywhere.   
  
He shuffled through his belongings once more. He found a couple of shirts, some pants, seemed like he was going on a little trip. He found no phone numbers, no way to know who he was. He tried again, like he did the previous night, to search through his brain to find some kind of memory. He was hit with a blank.  
He tapped on the paper, while he was trying to think of some way to figure out who he was. He decided though, to call himself Mario. It sounded familiar, maybe it was the name to a cousin or his father's. That's if he had a father. Another thing to add to the list. Mario what? Mario Parker. Yeah that sounded ok. Parker, that too sounded familiar. There were many things that struck a chord, but nothing actually panned out. He sighed some more ...and some more. Boy was it a boring trip. He wondered if he left any family behind and if he did, were they worrying about him?  



	3. The Second

**Part 2**  
  
"It's Alex, I know it is," Isabel said pacing the room. That's all she did the previous night. The last report was that the car pieces were similar to the color of Alex's car.  
  
She didn't sleep, she didn't eat, she only blamed herself for Alex's disappearance. She thought of all the ways she could have prevented this. She didn't listen to Max's comforting words, she only heard her scornful thoughts in her head.  
  
Liz tried calling Alex's house, but to no avail no one picked up. Mr. Whitman was out of town, working on something and surely if something were wrong, he would be the first to know and of course Mr. Whitman would phone them. He knew they were best friends. Nothing is wrong, nothing is wrong was Liz's mantra.  
  
"Isabel, please, don't worry, Alex is fine," Max said, embracing his sister. He gave Liz a worried glance, but she turned her head. She was worried about Alex, she didn't care about herself, she was really worried. As soon as she turned her head, she immediately regretted it. She knew Max didn't mean any harm, he just wanted to comfort her, but Isabel should be his first priority. Right?  
  
"Michael, you don't think it's him do you?" Maria asked him.  
  
"No, he's a big boy he can handle things himself, I'm sure if he was in trouble he would have called by now," he said. He knew it wasn't the best or right thing to say. He was never good at saying those types of things to her.   
  
Maria was going to say something about his insensitively but decided not to, she didn't want to get herself worked up even more.  
  
"Kyle, has your dad called and said anything?" Max asked.  
  
"No, he hasn't. He doesn't really know what's going on either. Hanson has been keeping him out of the loop," he said. Kyle had been one of the outsiders recently. He knew Max didn't trust him after what happened in October. The only person he trusted was Tess. She was always the quiet one. She would console you when no one was looking.   
  
Tess felt like an outsider too most of the time. They seemed to gravitate towards until that was until the Prom.   
  
"Well, there has to be something we can do. We can't just sit here," Isabel said.  
  
"You're stressing out, like all of us," Tess said, "you should get some sleep, we all should. After Maria called us late at night, it will all do some good."  
  
"I think she's right," Max said.   
  
Tess was a little surprised that Max agreed with her. Usually he only agreed with Liz, but after Prom, she knew she made her mark.  
  
Liz wanted to leave. She was dying to leave. All possible of the impossible theories were racing throughout her scientific mind. She wanted to go to the Whitman's and see what was going on. She was the first one to get up. Everyone looked at her with surprise. She felt Max's gaze on her and at first she welcomed it, but followed was Tess's eyes. She remembered what happened after Prom, when she saw Max kiss Tess.  
  
"I'm just going to go home and shower, it's been a long night," she fudged. She didn't know why she lied. Why it was the first thing that came to her mind. She didn't want to stress anyone out. Everyone deserved some sleep, she knew that. But she had to find out what was going on. Liz felt like something else was going on, she felt like there was a cover up, but she couldn't put her finger on it.  
  
She left Maria's house in the mind set that she would find out the truth. No matter what. She walked to Alex's house. It wasn't too far away.  
  
She rang the doorbell. No one answered. She rang it again. When no one answered, she went towards the back of the house to see if any lights were on.  
  
She knew Alex and Mr. Whitman always left a key underneath the flower pot by the back door. She reached for it and it easily slid into the key hole.  
  
"Alex? Mr. Whitman?" Liz said slipping into the Whitman residence. When no one answered, she knew the coast was clear. She went towards Alex's room, she was scared when she heard no noises. It was too quiet. There was no music playing, Mr. Whitman wasn't watching 'Jeopardy.' Her heart raced as she had never done something like this, not in her best friend's house.  
  
When she entered his room, it was a mess. Clothes were scattered, papers thrown around. She lowered herself to pick up the papers, but then realized that it could be a crime scene. She scolded herself when she had that thought. She went over to Alex's desk. Gingerly touching the counter top, she stopped, when she noticed Alex's favorite book of poetry was out. She opened to the book marked page and there lied 2 tickets to Beth Orton. The concert was for tonight. Something was definitely wrong. He wouldn't have just left if he had bought tickets for Isabel and himself. She looked around some more, and saw his lap top on his bed. She opened it and turned it on, maybe something would be on the hard drive that could tell her something. When the computer booted, she clicked on 'Alex's Stuff' and noticed that files were password protected.  
  
"What is the password?" she thought to herself.  
  
"Right, I the Stud," she remembered. Alex had let her a couple of times use his email account and his passwords were all the same. She typed in the password and the files that appeared seemed like gibberish.  
  
She thought about printing the files, but then decided it would be more useful to take the computer. She didn't think his father would mind. Mind you she didn't think. She went on her first instincts.  
  
She left the room, but first she had to take one quick last look around. She realized that all the clothes and papers, were just Alex being Alex. There was no crime, nothing out of the ordinary.   
  
"God, Alex, where are you?" Liz said with a sigh of fear and of worry, before she left the room.  
  
~  
Hours later Alex reached his destination. This time he was awake when the bus pulled up. It was getting dark, by the time he arrived and as soon as he got off the bus, his stomach grumbled.   
  
He got on line for the information desk and when it was his turn he asked for the nearest diner.  
  
"Sir, the best place would be the Talon," the clerk said.  
  
"Sir, I'm a sir," he said quietly to himself as he nodded his head in confirmation and hailed a taxi.  
  
As soon as he arrived in front the Talon, he groaned in pain. He sat on the fire extinguisher as he let the vibrations in his head continue. When he closed his eyes, he saw something. A building, bright lights, a round object. Everything was happening so fast. By the time the images past, he was on his feet. It was all a blur, just looking at the Talon made him have a feeling of warmness.  
  
Alex reached into his hoodie pocket and took out the piece of paper where he was writing all of his theories. He wrote: 'Talon, restaurant connection? Round object. What's the connection?'  
  
He thought about it for a couple of moments, but when nothing came to him, he grabbed his bags and stepped into the café.  
  
The aroma of coffee welcomed him. There were so many people, unlike the few on the bus.   
  
"Hey, take a seat, I'll be right with you," a small brunette told him.  
  
Alex nodded, not really sure what to do, he saw the nearest table, next to a blonde girl.  
  
He gave her a weak smile, before sitting down.  
  
He took out his paper again, maybe something else would come to him.  
  
He began tapping on the paper without his knowing it, it felt like he was in his own little world, when a thought was coming to him, it was interrupted by the brunette again.  
  
"Sorry, about that, it's a little busier than normal. Can I get you something?"  
  
"Um, yeah, coffee, and an apple turn over," he said, giving the girl his attention. Something about her gave him the impression that she seemed familiar.  
  
"Are you new here?" she inquired, taking down his order.  
  
"Is it that obvious?" he answered blushing a little.  
  
The brunette giggled lightly, "Um, sorta, you seem kinda out of place, but don't worry about it. I'm Lana."   
  
"Well, OK, Lana, nice to meet you," Alex said. He didn't really feel comfortable using his alias.  
  
"Well, welcome to Smallville, I'll be right back with your coffee," Lana said, going to the counter to place his order.  
  
"Don't forget his apple turn over!" Alex heard from the side of him.  
  
He turned towards the voice.  
  
"Oh, those are the best here," the blond next to him side, "I'm Chloe by the way."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Alex replied shaking her hand, "would you like to join me?"  
  
"Sure, wow, so where are you from?" Chloe asked.  
  
"Down south," Alex replied remembering the list he wrote. He figured he came from that vicinity, but he wasn't so sure.  
  
"Oh, well, Smallville is kinda Smallville. Well, unless you're one of those crash fanatics," she replied.  
  
"Crash?" Alex inquired. "Why did that sound so familiar? Right, the pamphlet," he reminded himself.  
  
"Oh, well there are these weird things that happen here and we well, I think they're all related to the meteor showers from '89," Chloe said. She was really getting into the subject. Alex didn't want to interrupt her because of her enthusiasm.  
  
"Oh Chloe are you already filling in our visitor about the weird things?" Lana asked with a look, placing the coffee and the turn over on the table.  
  
Alex smirked.  
  
"Well, enjoy!" she said.  
  
"Thanks, so what is there to do here?" he said taking a bite of the turn over. This was the one thing he was positively sure that he liked.  
  
"Um, well there's here, the Talon, and I think that's it," she said smiling, "so you're really enjoying those turn overs huh?"  
  
Alex laughed because she was so right, "Yeah, you got me."  
  
"Well, those would be the spawns of the Kents," she said, "speaking of the Kents, here comes Clark."  
  
As Clark was approaching them he gave her one of those "who's he?" looks. You could see a pang of jealousy, but Chloe was used to the feeling already.  
  
"This is my friend Clark, Clark this is, oh I'm sorry what's your name, I didn't catch it?"  
  
Alex fidgeted for a moment, "Mario."  
  
"So, he's new here," Chloe said introducing Clark to Alex.  
  
"Hi, so are you going to Smallville High?" Clark asked.  
  
"Uh, yeah," Alex said, "um, actually I have to get going, you know the worrying parents. I'll catch you at school."  
  
He shoved his hands in his pockets grabbed some bills and threw them on the table, "Nice meeting you guys, later."  
  
And with that Mario Parker left the Talon. He felt suffocated. He felt like the world was spinning around him. He freaked inside, there were so many new people. He had the feeling he knew them all, or they had some kind of connection to him. The weight of the world was on his shoulders and he was still hungry for apple turn overs.  
  
~  
  
It was the early morning of the following day and Liz Parker still hadn't slept. She had been on Alex's computer trying to decode the files. She couldn't figure the code of it. It wasn't like it was in another language, it was in jumbled computer symbols.  
  
Liz felt so lost. She officially lost Max. She had only used Sean. Maria was no where to be seen. Alex, God Alex, she missed him so much.  
  
The official report was that Alex was in the car. His driver's license and credit cards were all found at the site. The school memorial was being held that Monday. She didn't know how to react. She still hadn't allowed herself to cry for him. She wouldn't until the truth was out. She couldn't accept it. She wouldn't let her friend die. She owed it to him. God, she couldn't let it go and grieve. Was she wasting her time? Should she be with Maria and Isabel. She thought that maybe it was an accident. But no car could spontaneously combust without some kind of tampering. The photos she had seen on web pages from the Roswell ledger showed no way it could have crashed. It was too perfect. There were no poles, no rocks to crash into. He didn't smash his car. Something was wrong with this picture. She was a scientist, everything had answers. In science there are always answers, it just takes time to hypothesize and reach a conclusion.  
  
She was frustrated with her tenuous attempt to decrypt the files. She got up from her seat and stretched. When she did she got a look of herself in a body length mirror. She was still fully dressed from the night before, makeup smeared and sticky from her tears of frustration. She needed some air.  
  
She climbed out of her room, using the window. She didn't feel like being consoled by her parents. She wanted to be alone. She didn't want the "it's OK, everything will be all right's because she knew everything was not going to be OK. Alex was gone. The trio of her, Alex, and Maria had been destroyed. Gone, zapped, disconnected. Whatever it was, it would not be OK. She couldn't even think anymore. She didn't know how she felt. She couldn't sort out her feelings. She just felt numb. She couldn't write in her journal. Everything felt bottled up and there wasn't a way to open the bottle. She felt empty, a part of herself which she had given to Max and to Alex was gone. Part of herself was missing and she wasn't sure how to get it back.  
  
So Liz started walking. She didn't go anywhere in particular. Didn't care in what direction. If the street signal said walk she would, if not she would turn the corner. She just starred out, not paying attention to anything. She realized she was a block away from Kyle's house.  
  
She sighed and walked towards his house.  



	4. The Third

**Part 3  
  
**She wondered about Tess. She wondered if she would be home or maybe she would be at Max's. At Max's. It didn't feel or sound right.   
  
She was across the street from his house, when the door opened. Tess appeared with Max behind her. She laughed at something he said. They exited the house and Liz caught Kyle rolling his eyes. She could only let her heart fall and smirk at Kyle's reaction.  
  
They were too busy to notice Liz. She crossed the street and walked up the driveway to Kyle's.   
  
She rang the door bell and heard Kyle say with sarcasm behind the door, "You're back so soon. I was beginning to miss you both."  
  
When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Liz. "No its only me."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry Liz, I was just..."  
  
"Yeah, I know Kyle, I saw them leave."  
  
"Oh, yeah well, I guess we all knew it would happen, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess. Could I come in?"  
  
"Of course," he said, feeling dumb because he didn't let her in sooner, "So what brings you around?"  
  
"Kyle, we're close, right? I can tell you anything and you won't judge me, right?" she asked him, sitting on the couch.  
  
"Of course, Liz, after what happened with Alex, we need each other," he said, sitting next to his friend.  
  
"Ok, well I think Alex was murdered."  
  
Kyle tried to take it in. He rubbed his eyes, "That's a bit of an accusation. What makes you think that? Who would have anything against him?"  
  
"I don't know. No one human that's for sure. If none of this alien stuff would have happened, then things would be different. But after last year, we can't rule out anything," Liz said. She needed someone to talk to and someone who would believe in her.  
  
"What about Max? Have you spoken to him about it?" Kyle asked.  
  
"No, not really, after Prom, I think it would be hard to do so, but if I have to I will," she said, looking down. She was ashamed that she was holding her personal grudges against Max when she should be focusing on other things.  
  
"Maybe Max knows something or he can do something with some alien voodoo," Kyle said giving in his idea.  
  
"I don't know, he seems to be occupied with Tess," Liz said in a sad tone.  
  
"Yeah, well, he better get his act together because if what you said about the alien terrorists is right then we need him."  
  
"Does your dad have anything about Alex? Files? Records?" Liz asked.  
  
"Um, well, he has some things. He managed to make photo copies of these things. He tried to get Hanson to let him take the case, so you know, he can tell us what's going on," Kyle said.  
  
Liz nodded in agreement. They walked over to the dining room table.  
  
"We've stopped eating, we're both on a diet," Kyle joked.  
  
On the table were papers about the crash all spread about. A bulletin board about possible scenarios. It seemed like Valenti thought otherwise too.  
  
"This is a lot of information," Liz said picking up a file.  
  
She scanned through the file. It had Alex's background information. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  
  
"Yeah, I've been through most of it. Everything seems legit, but dad has this board, I think he was thinking what you were thinking," Kyle said.  
  
"And Tess doesn't have a problem with all this stuff here?" Liz asked. She was meaning to take down notes on all of the aliens powers. Maybe figuring out exactly what kind of powers they had, maybe something would show up.  
  
"Um, not really. She hasn't been in here. She's sorta not here a lot," Kyle said.  
  
"Right," Liz said, quickly changing the subject, "Has the official report come out yet?"  
  
"It has now," Valenti said coming in from the back door.  
  
"Dad, you were able to get it?" Kyle asked.  
  
"Yeah, well, I have to get it back in a couple of minutes to the station. I couldn't make copies. I thought of bringing it to the Crashdown and having a meeting, but it would have taken to long," he said handing the file to Liz.   
  
"Thanks, Mr. Valenti," Liz said. Finally something official. Everything about the case had been sensationalized. This had to offer something else.  
  
Valenti pulled Kyle to the side, but Liz didn't notice anything as she was reading the report religiously, "Son, how is Liz doing? She seems sick and frail."  
  
"I don't know. She wants to know the truth that's what. But other than that, I don't know. She seems to have the idea, Alex was murdered."  
  
"Murdered?" Valenti asked in disbelief.  
  
"What? A suicide?!?!? You can't let this come out. A suicide? He did not commit suicide. He would never do that. His parents will think that, but that's not the truth," Liz said in shock. She couldn't believe it.  
  
"Liz, everything points to it. His grades had been slipping. His teachers said he had been isolating himself in class. The police think his car had a leak and he took that as a chance to light it on fire." Valenti said. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure what the truth was anymore.  
  
"And he committed suicide over bad grades? You seriously don't think he lit his car on fire," Liz said. Bad grades?!? He would never do that. Not over bad grades. Not over anything. He would never do anything harsh or as rash as this report puts it.  
  
When Liz didn't get an answer from Valenti, she pleaded with Kyle. When she didn't get a response from him, she blew up.  
  
"He would never do that. Never would he commit suicide. Kyle, you've gotten to know him better, please, he wouldn't do that. We have to find out who did this. I'm not going to believe it. I'm not going to believe he killed himself, until I see a body."  
  
"Those results will be in a couple of weeks. The lab has to sort out the debris out of the ash. It generally takes a couple of days, but after the lab in Roswell closed, it has to be shipped out to Santa Fe. Liz, please, listen to me," Valenti said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "There's nothing else we can do. We can only wait for the results. Please you can't do this to yourself."  
  
Liz forcefully pulled out from under his hand, "But I'm the only one thinking realistically. Something happened out in the desert. Why can't you two see it? This is a cover up, a conspiracy, after everything we've been through, you have to know that nothing is like what it seems."  
  
"And what exactly are you saying, Liz?"  
  
Liz spun around. She was crying from the fact that no one would be open minded and listen to her.   
  
"Max," Liz said surprised. Behind him was Tess.  
  
"What are you saying Liz? That aliens did it. That we did it," Max said. His face was stone cold.  
  
"No not you, but the report says that Alex committed suicide. We all know he wouldn't do that. Something or someone murdered him or did something. Max, please, you have to help me," Liz said pleadingly. She hoped that the one she loved would come through.  
  
"No Liz, you have to stop. Look at yourself. You look sick. Go home and rest. We heard everything you said. We had nothing to do with it. Stop this crusade of yours of proving his death wasn't accidental. You have to stop it," Max said.  
  
"Fine, whatever you say King Max," Liz said storming off. She gave Kyle a look of "please believe me" before she left.  
  
Max was going to go after her, but Tess held him back, "Talk to her later, she has to blow off some steam."  
  
Kyle followed after her. "Liz, Liz come back," he yelled from the doorway. He sighed and grabbed his coat and ran after her.  
  
"Kyle, don't bother. You don't believe me. That's fine. I don't need you guys, I can find out what happened with out your help," Liz said heading back home.  
  
"Liz wait, hear me out," Kyle asked. He had to do something. He always wanted his relationship with Liz to work. He cared about her. He knew she was hurting from her little blow with Max, he had to comfort her, but he knew she was stubborn.   
  
"Listen Liz, I'm not sure if I should be saying this, but I believe you. After everything that has happened, it's only fair to listen to your theories, after all Buddha says we should be mindful to what others have to say. Liz, c'mon, I'll walk you home and we'll talk."  
  
Kyle put his arm around Liz and they walked to her house. They didn't realize they had spectators.  
  
"I guess, she got over it fast," Tess said, looking up to Max, "Look at him, classic Kyle move."  
  
Max wished he could have done something, but he didn't want to believe that if Alex was killed by aliens then that would mean that he was responsible.  
  



	5. The Fourth

**Part 4**  
  
Alex was sleeping in his bed. After he left the Talon, he found a motel. He checked in and thought about what happened in the Talon. He felt paranoid. Walking to the motel he felt as if everyone was staring at him. He was asked about attending school. He wasn't sure about anything. He felt uncomfortable around them. He knew he would see them again. But everything seemed familiar. The Talon, Chloe, Lana, and even Clark. They all seemed familiar. He knew he couldn't have known then because if he did they would have recognized them. He didn't know anymore. He just didn't know.  
  
While he slept he was hit with dreams. Some good, but mostly bad. But they were blurry. Not exactly dreams, but not actual reality. He heard voices. Women's voices.  
  
"Remind; me I should take more computer classes," he heard himself say.  
  
A giggle. It sounded familiar. A face appeared. Small, petite, blonde, blue eyes.  
  
He woke up in a start. He scrambled for his book and jotted down everything he knew. He grabbed his head in pain as another flash entered his mind.  
  
A sign. "Sorry;, we're closed." Women inside, mint green uniforms, waitresses.  
  
"That;'s it," he said to himself. He turned on the light and sat at the table and wrote, "Restaurant; = The Talon. That's why the coffee smelled familiar. I used to hang out or walk by a restaurant, where the women were waitresses and wore mint green uniforms. I took computer classes, or wanted to. I'm a computer geek. That's it. I am. Ok I'm getting there. A blonde girl. Kinda like Chloe, but not."  
  
He was pleased with himself. He was able to retain something from what he remembered. This was ground breaking. Granted there were thousand of restaurants all over the world, where there were women waitresses, but this was something new. He knew the place. He was once there. If he could have more of these minus the pain then everything should come back to him soon.  
  
He put down his pen and crawled back into bed. He stared at the ceiling. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep the rest of the night. He was too wired. The pain subsided. He looked over to the clock on the bed rest, it was almost 6. He decided to wash up and wander Smallville. Some breakfast would be good. Something warm in his stomach would do some good. Maybe he could find an internet cafe and look up restaurants. The bolts in his brain were turning. Ideas were whizzing by and he wanted to go through each and every one of them.  
  
After taking a nice and long shower, he got dressed, got his Smallville pamphlet and went to discover the world.  
  
~  
  
After a long talk Kyle thought he went a little insane. Liz made perfect sense. She was a little extreme, but he couldn't see why no one would listen to her. He thought that if you listened to her theories and wondered about them then it would make sense. You just had to give her a chance. And that's what Kyle did.  
  
"I; can't believe we talked for so long," Kyle said yawning.   
  
"I; know, we've never done that," Liz said surprised. Time seemed to pass by so fast. They had never even had this long of a conversation when they dated two summers ago.  
  
"Well;, I hope we can do that more often," he said. He genuinely meant it too.  
  
"Yeah;, what about your dad? He's probably worried," Liz said stretching. After 3 hours of Liz convincing him of what she thought really happened, they talked about other things. It had been the first time since she was able to talk about other things. They talked about the good times they shared with Alex. They talked about television shows and how Kyle was starting to like 'The View'.  
  
"It;'s ok, he knew I was coming after you, hey I'm hungry and since we're above a restaurant do you think you can spare some food before school," Kyle asked curiously.  
  
"Of; course, Kyle, c'mon, I'll fix you the Liz Parker special," she said with a slight smile.  
  
"That;'s the Liz Parker I like."  
  
They left her room and went downstairs. When they entered the restaurant portion of the building, Max and Tess looked at them. Max felt jealous. He had a flashback of that night in October, when he saw Kyle in Liz's bed. He turned his head to not look at them.  
  
"Kyle;, take a seat, I'll bring you some pancakes," Liz said quietly.  
  
Kyle took a seat two booths away from the aliens, before saying a quiet "hey;" to the couple. He didn't want to have a us vs. them attitude. He didn't want to cause a schism in the group, when it was clear that they needed each other.  
  
Tess knew something had happened between the two men and she didn't know what it was, "Oh; hi, Kyle. What time did you get here?"  
  
"Oh; I've been here a while," he said locking eyes in Max, making it obvious he hurt Liz.  
  
"Really;? I didn't hear you come in," Tess said, slurping on her cup of orange juice.  
  
"Yeah;, well, I didn't think you'd care," he muttered.  
  
He gave them his back and looked for Liz and those pancakes she offered.  
  
Liz was in the back whipping a batch of pancakes. She felt a little different. Happy. She was happy that someone believed her. Finally she had someone to listen to her rantings. She held the bowl of batter as she made circles of it on the pan. Her thought seemed to daze away as she was making them. She felt a little hot. She saw something in the corner of her eye, FIRE!  
  
The fire alarm went off, and Max and Kyle burst into the room.  
  
"Liz;!" Max yelled.  
  
Liz went into action and raced for the fire extinguisher. It was getting out of control. When she looked at the flaming pan, Max put his hand over the fire and it disappeared.  
  
"What;'s happening? What's going on?" Jeff Parker yelled in confusion and worry.  
  
"The; alarm went off accidentally," Max said rubbing his hand.  
  
"That; damn thing, I have to get a new one," he said, looking at the now turned off alarm, "What; are you two doing here? Liz shouldn't you be getting ready for school?"  
  
"Yes;, dad, I should," Liz said, walking to the staircase that lead up to her room. She couldn't help but smile. Max still cared about her. She knew that. But things would have to change in order for her to be his friend again.  
**  
  
**


	6. The Fifth

**Part 5  
  
**After walking around aimlessly for 3 hours Alex found himself at the Talon. It was 9 o' clock Monday morning. and the Talon was empty.  
  
He took a seat by the window and looked at all the pedestrians. A silver BMW whizzed by and made an abrupt stop. The bald headed man seemed important in the way he walked and also in the way the pedestrians looked at him with fear and disgust.  
  
Alex couldn't help but stare. He appeared to be powerful. And a guy who would keep secrets.  
  
As he walked in and went towards the ordering counter Alex told him, "Hey;, buddy, nice ride."  
  
He stopped in mid stride and turned his head, "Thanks;, are you skipping school?"  
  
"No;, I'm new here, I don't start for another day," Alex said.  
  
"Because; if you were I would salute you," he said with a smirk, "welcome; to Smallville, I'm Lex Luthor."  
  
"Mario; Parker."  
  
"What; brings you and your family to this very humble nitch in Kansas?" Lex asked receiving his coffee from a waitress, who smiled at him.  
  
"Oh; the prospects of starting over," Alex said taking a sip of his own coffee.  
  
"I; know the feeling. Well, Mario Parker, I do have to go. I have an appointment I must keep. You seem like a nice guy, maybe I'll see you around. I'm be sure to tell Clark Kent to give you the run down of the town," Lex said shaking his hand.  
  
"Oh; Clark, yeah, I met him last time, thanks."  
  
As Lex was leaving Alex thought about the way he said the name Mario. Something about that name sounded familiar. He thought so when he made it up on the bus. As he started to gain strength to remember he was hit with another flash.  
  
"Hey;, Maria, are you going to hear the band's CD?" he heard himself say.  
  
He was at the restaurant again. This time he could see a blurry figure. Long blonde hair, "Sure;, I'm going to Michael's tonight, but swing by the Crashdown. I'll be here covering the late shift."  
  
He jumped out of his vision. He looked around the Talon and much to his expectations some of the patrons were looking at him funny.  
  
"Thank; the heavens that be," he told himself. He almost ran out of the Talon and walked to the Internet café he found before.  
  
He burst through the double doors intent on finding something useful.  
  
He logged onto the Internet and went to the first search engine he could think of. He typed in Crashdown. To his disappointment nothing useful or relevant turned up. He typed Crashdown restaurant next. There were results that matched in Georgia. He entered the web site and there were no waitresses in green. He looked at the results again, 20 more listings, but there was a figure coming towards him.  
  
"Hey;, man, we gotta close. There's a virus in the main computer and we gotta shut these off before they become infected too," a man with a curly afro and thick black rimmed glasses said.  
  
"But; hold on, I gotta find something important," Alex said panicking.  
  
"Sorry;, man you gotta try somewhere else," he said trying to get a hold of the keyboard.  
  
"No;, you don't understand. I need to find a place. It's a life or death situation," pushing the guy out of the way.  
  
"That;'s what they all say," the guy said again from the floor. As he got up Alex heard him say, "oh; Buddha help me."  
  
When Alex heard that, he stopped. That definitely struck a chord.  
  
"I; said you have to come back later," the employee said, getting angry.  
  
"Fine;," Alex said numbly. He walked outside and a woman bumped into him, as he apologized he saw the local movie theater. As he looked up, he had another flash. This time, he wasn't prepared. He couldn't handle it. His body had had it. He fell onto the ground. He felt paralyzed. He couldn't speak, he couldn't move, he could only see a series of images.  
  
"So; what about a regular movie instead?"  
  
"Yeah;, OK Isabel, sure, yeah, new movie, not old movie," he said.  
  
"It;'s called an aqua bra. Would you like to try it on?"  
  
"Jonathan; what's wrong with him?" Alex heard a woman say.  
  
"So; I'm sure you're eager to hear the results of your computer profile."  
  
Alex's body began to convulse.  
  
"Psychologist.; Wow. How did you get started in this field?"  
  
"OK;, I'm making a point here. The point here is, musicians get the ladies.  
  
"I; need your blood."  
  
"Oh; God what are you people hiding?"  
  
His vision began to fade.  
  
"What; is it.... drugs? Is that what this is? You and Max go out for a drive. He gets wasted, almost kills you both. That's what I'm covering for isn't it?"  
  
"So; they're Canucks."  
  
Isabel and Max Evans. He knew them. He could feel it.  
  
He screamed in pain and the last blurry image he saw were the worried expressions of Jonathan and Martha Kent.  
  
~   
  
"Alex;!" Liz screamed. She woke up from her daydream and twenty-five sets of eyes were locked on her, including Max, Tess, and Maria's.  
  
"Ms.; Parker, maybe you should go to the bathroom and get yourself together," Ms. Hardy said understandingly.  
  
Liz blushed immensely and without say grabbed her books and left class.  
  
"Ms.; Deluca, you should check up on after her," Ms. Hardy said to Maria, sitting in the first row, first seat. She hated sitting there.  
  
"Sure;," she replied, gathering her stuff and exiting the now buzzing with speculation classroom.  
  
Liz splashed cold water on her face. It felt so real. She saw Alex. She could feel what he felt. Pain, despair, loneliness. He was in so much of it.  
  
"Liz;, what happened to you in there? One second you're answering a mighty difficult question, the next you screaming Alex's name, Maria said leaning on the sink.  
  
"Nice; to see you to, Maria," Liz said, moving away from her.  
  
"You; know Liz, I don't even know who you are anymore. You don't come to the yearbook meetings anymore, when you know we're working on a double page spread for Alex. You scream murder at Max. You skip lunch to talk to the computer geeks. Liz who are you? You used to be my friend, but after everything that happened with Alex, you're not. God Liz why aren't you my friend?"  
  
Liz at first took everything with grace but when Maria spoke about friendship, she exploded,"You; wanna talk about friendship. OK let's talk Maria. You were the one who abandoned me when I wanted to talk. You immediately went to Michael for comfort. He was the one who comforted you. You left me Maria. I'm the only one in this god forsaken town that gives a damn about Alex."  
  
"That;'s so not true, Liz. I care about him. This town may suck, but everyone cares for him. He was our best friend," Maria said taking a stand. She couldn't believe the way her soon to be ex friend was talking about him.  
  
"You;'re talking about him in the past tense. Like's he dead. Well he;s not. I know it. I'm going to tell you like I told Valenti, I'm not going to believe he's dead until I see a body or those results come in positive."  
  
"Don;'t talk like that, Liz. He's dead, face it, we lost him. Get over it and grieve. I haven't seen you cry, Liz. When are you going to cry?"  
  
"When; I see those results."  
  
"You; better not act like that in front of his dad at the funeral. If you yell conspiracy, I will never talk to you again," Maria said. She had the last straw.  
  
"You; better clean yourself up, the memorial is next period," Maria said with a stone cold face.  
  
"I;'m not going," Liz said facing the school mirror.  
  
"What;?" Maria said from the doorway, "Why; not?"  
  
"Because; he's not dead."  
  
Maria sighed.  
  
"God;, Liz, I really don't know you anymore." Maria left the bathroom and Liz was left by herself, as she has been for the last day.  
  
All the emotions from before bubbled inside her. She couldn't take it. She couldn't take that no one believed her except Kyle.  
She left the bathroom and looked at the class room from where she came from. The door just closed and she knew Maria was the one who closed it.  
  
Liz sighed and walked to her locker. She couldn't help but look at the makeshift memorial the students of West Roswell High made for him.  
  
"God;, no one knew him and they try and act like they did," she said to Kyle behind her.  
  
"They;'re only trying to be nice," he said leaning on the locker next to hers, "shouldn;'t you be in class?"  
  
"I; was about to ask you the same question," she said placing her biology book in her back pack, "Kyle;, do you ever get the feeling that Roswell isn't meant for you?"  
  
"All; the time. I dream about playing left fielder for the Houston Astros. Being somewhere where the desert isn't your backyard. Where Buddha is accepted without ridicule. Sure, I do," Kyle answered.  
  
"I; used to think about being the head of the molecular biology research department in Harvard," Liz answered, closing her locker door.  
  
"Liz; you can still achieve that. Especially with that head of yours," Kyle said getting a feeling she knew where Liz was heading.  
  
"Kyle;, could we leave?" Liz asked.  
  
"Of; course we can leave Roswell. Someday that is."  
  
"No;, I mean, could we leave now? I don't want to go to the memorial. I got into an argument with Maria and the bus won't come until 2:30."  
  
"Are; you sure you don't want to stay?" Kyle asked. He didn't want her to regret her decision after they left.  
  
"He;'s not dead, you know. I'm not going to sit around and celebrate his life when he's not dead. We can celebrate his life when he's here with us."  
  
"Sure;, Liz, I was planning on skipping it too," Kyle said, "you; know after everything you said." He took Liz's backpack and swung it over his shoulder.  
  
"Are; you sure Kyle? I don't want to get you into trouble."  
  
"Buddha; will forgive me."  
  



End file.
